A surprisingly strong US jobs report continues to weigh on the Australian dollar in the absence of any other significant economic data.

At 0700 AEDT on Tuesday, the local unit was trading at 93.55 US cents, down from 93.80 cents on Monday.

The Australian dollar has been under pressure since the Friday night release of the better-than-expected US employment report which has renewed hopes the Federal Reserve will start tapering its economic stimulus measures sooner rather than later.

The market now would focus on a string of speeches by US Federal Reserve officials, including chairman Ben Bernanke, this week, BK Asset Management managing director Kathy Lien said.

“There have been a significant amount of positive surprises in US data but many investors are still undecided on how quickly they think the Federal Reserve will taper,” Ms Lien said.

“The less dovish tone of the last FOMC statement and stronger data means that tapering in December is still an option.

“However, next month’s meeting is Bernanke’s last and shortly after his successor takes office, Congress is expected to re-enact the fiscal debate as the debt ceiling was extended only until early February.

“This makes the comments from Federal Reserve presidents this week exceptionally important.”

AAP